


Ledger

by chanporado



Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Feel the pain, Gen, how tf do you tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 18:40:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8544766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanporado/pseuds/chanporado
Summary: Everyone has a ledger. But Will's ledger is swimming in red.





	

**Author's Note:**

> will i stop hurting our favorite analyst? prolly not.
> 
> also the news where jeremy might not be in MI6 shookedt me. right. shookedt. i'm having wild conspiracy theories rn.
> 
> i dont own Mission Impossible and The Avengers although i wish they have a funko pop of brandt

**_William_ **   
_Meaning: Resolute Protector_

  
His name is William Charles Barton. He is the youngest among the Barton twins. His older brother, Clinton Francis, would grow up to be an Avenger.

  
William, on the other hand, would grow up to be one of the greatest agents IMF had ever known.

  
But his journey to the top wasn't easy. He has the wits, he has the brawn and he is cunning enough to easily rival Ethan Hunt. But Will is a quiet man whose ledger was drowning in red.

  
Yes. Everyone's ledger had been red at some point. But his was so red you has to dig deep to find any black. For someone as quiet as him, it comes as an surprise.  
Clint's ledger was gaining its black. Will's ledger continued to soak up the red.

  
He was the best. He was the alpha. He topped every single exam with ease. His missions have the highest success rates and he almost didn't need the extraction team. The times he called them, it was to help someone. An agent as lethal as him would make anyone cower in his presence. But he had a heart of gold. And it was his heart that told him it was his duty to protect.

  
Clint brings them in and nutures them. Will protects from afar. He is distant but his older brother knew better. He wasn't afraid of attachments. Its just he liked to see from a distance.

They called him the Trojan Horse of the agency. He brought forth destruction to the enemies. He is quiet. But quiet is better than loud. One moment the target is standing in triumph, gloating about how they easily beat anyone who dared. The next moment, they're writhing and thrashing in pain with Will standing over them. His baby blues turn into hard ice when they're looking at the enemy. But they were the most dangerous when he is faced someone who treated human rights nothing but mere words. His fellow agents called his brutal treatment "The Barton Special".

  
But afterwards he would lock himself in his safe house and weep.

  
Will knew it was his duty to protect those who could protect themselves. But every time he failed, it would be another red to his ledger.  
Another life lost, another debt he couldn't pay.

  
They told him to let it go. It wasn't his fault. But he believed that he is beyond redemption.

  
A sweet child who once preferred the company of books to playing soccer with the neighborhood boys would end up hiding away his emotions under lock and key.

  
He tried to be blank. He tried to mask any emotion. He tried to show he is fine.

  
But he's not. _And he will never be._

One day, he was asked to do a protection detail for an asset in Croatia. His eyes lit up. He enjoyed doing protection details and it often gave him a chance to observe his asset's life. It was a fresh breath of air from his usual missions. When he was told it would be a milk run and he can choose three people to come along with him, he immediately picked three of his fellow comrades from his days at the Farm. They treated this like an ordinary protection detail.

  
Except for one problem.

  
They cannot make their presence known.

  
A Serbian hit squad is coming. He wanted to warn them. But he can't.

  
Orders are orders.

  
And he choose to obey.

It was the biggest mistake of his life.

Croatia completely changed him. He became more withdrawn and he would wake up screaming and shivering. Sometimes, he would punch the wall until his knuckles bled.

And sometimes, he would contemplate on ending it all.

He blamed himself for the death of the wife. He blamed his cowardice for one mistake. It was like someone spilled coffee on his ledger. Except it was blood. An innocent life paid the price. A civilian. Someone who shouldn't be brought to the dangerous world he and her husband lived in.

"You can't bring someone back from the dead." "I know."

He submitted his resignation, resolving to end it all. They think he would be retiring to the peaceful civilian life. Nobody knew that he choose today to end it.

But to his surprise, the Secretary rejected it. "Someone with your skill set deserves a second chance William."

"But Mr. Secretary..."

"I am having none of it Agent Barton."

And so began the story of William Charles Brandt.

But his ledger would always remain red.

(He didn't know it began to gain its black too.)


End file.
